I Choose You
by yearofthenalu
Summary: Lucy Heartfilia was always sheltered from the Pokémon world. Her life is changed for the better when she sets out to become a Pokémon coordinator like her mother once was. Though, her journey doesn't turn out as planned when she meets a certain fire-type trainer... (Nalu AU).
1. Chapter 1

The loud patter of rain thudded on the cover of the building and drained off the edges of the roof. An irritated grunt sounded from the blonde beneath the cover. So much for an adventurous first day.

Lucy leaned over in the bench she was sitting on, her feet swinging idly below her. It had rained all morning. Normally, she wouldn't mind since she was always holed up in her house, but now.. Now she wasn't. She was free.

And now that she had obtained her well deserved freedom, she wanted to go out and train. Though, the luxurious opportunity was stolen from her by the rain. Lifting her hands, Lucy dragged them across her face dramatically. Letting her arms fall back to her sides, chocolate eyes glanced to the bag nestled to her side. She traced her fingers along the smooth leather before unbuttoning the flap and digging around inside. Her hand fit snugly around one of the three pokeballs inside.

Knitting her brows together, she gripped the ball and pulled it from her bag. She knew it was Aquarius' pokeball. She knew every nook and cranny of it. After all, Aquarius was one of the few possessions she had left of her mother.

"A little rain never killed anybody," she murmured with a small grin, getting to her feet abruptly.

She swung the bag around her shoulder, her hair falling forward from the sudden movement. Lucy quickly tucked the blonde strands behind her ear and stepped out into the rain. Surprisingly, it was beginning to lighten up. Perfect timing, she supposed. And with that, the young coordinator began her journey.

* * *

Lucy crouched low in the grass with her eyes fixated on the young Buneary that lingered in the clearing. She just had to have it. It would be an amazing contest pokemon! When it came down to it, she wasn't exactly sure how to go about this. Did she just.. throw a pokeball at it?

 _Oh, I know! I have to weaken it first,_ she thought, looking quite proud of herself for coming up with the idea.

Aquarius' ball was still gripped tightly in her hand. She lifted it, staring at it longingly. If luck was on her side today, things would go smoothly.

She chucked the pokeball in the air and the ball popped open, followed by a flash of red light. The red light morphed into the shape of the pokemon that resided within. The Milotic that emerged swung its beautifully scaled tail to the side, turning its head sharply towards Lucy. It was glaring daggers.

"H-Hey, Aquarius! I just need you to do me one little favor," Lucy grimaced, throwing her hands up in defense almost immediately.

Aquarius was having none of it. On instinct, the Milotic let out a ferocious cry of defiance. Well, there goes the Buneary. Lucy let out a squeal, stumbling back at her pokemon's violent behavior.

Unfortunately for Lucy, her foot slipped off the still soaked edge of the path. She screeched as she fell backwards and began to tumble down the hill, losing sight of her pokemon who still remained at the top. Quickly, before she was too far away, she held up the pokeball that was still in her hand and summoned Aquarius back.

Finally, the tumbling girl came to a stop at the bottom of the hill. She hit the concrete with a harsh impact, Aquarius' pokeball slipping from her grip and rolling away.

She began to crawl after it and outstretched her hand to grasp it. She inhaled sharply when a foreign hand swooped down and picked up the pokeball before she could.

"It's a bit beaten up, don't you think?" the stranger spoke in a raspy voice.

"That's special to me, give it back!" Lucy demanded, brown eyes raising to meet those of the thief.

Her eyes widened at the sight of him; he was handsome, yes, but his hair.. it was pink.

"I wasn't going to take it from you, jeez. I was just going to help yo- Hey, what's so funny?!" he sputtered, eyes narrowing down at the female who was now in a fit of laughter. The Minun that sat on his shoulder peeked down at her curiously.

"Y-Your hair! It's pink!" she cried between giggles, using her remaining strength to sit up.

"It's salmon!"

"I'm pretty sure that's pink."

"Maybe I will steal your pokeball after all," he threatened with a smirk.

"No, please don't!" Lucy's voice had become shrill with panic. She couldn't let anyone take that pokemon. That was her mother's!

"Relax, I'm just teasing," he replied, his voice softening a bit. He outstretched his hand, offering to help her up.

Lucy accepted the offer gratefully, surprised at how snug his calloused hands fit around her's. She cleared her throat after he hauled her up and tugged her hand from his. She held it out with her palm face up.

"My pokemon, please," she chirped, trying to appear unfazed.

Dumbfounded, he placed the battered up pokeball in the blonde's hand.

Then, they stood there in silence. The Minun looked between the two before nudging his trainer's cheek.

"Happy says I should take you to a Pokemon Center so they can check you out. You got pretty beat up from your tumble," the pink-haired boy brought up in a matter-of-fact tone.

"I don't remember pokemon being able to talk. Anyways, I shouldn't run off with strangers," she retorted, propping one of her hands on her hips. She winced at the movement, lifting her hand from her hip to look at her scraped up palm.

"My name is Natsu. Now we're not strangers, right?" he grinned cheekily and grabbed her wrist before she could protest. He inspected her scraped up palm nonchalantly, rotating it at different angles.

"Well, you're not wrong. My name is Lucy," she replied quietly, her cheeks growing warm at the sudden contact.

She let out a yelp when he abruptly jerked her along and forced her to break out into a run.

"Come on, then!" Natsu beamed, turning his head back to look at her.

Her heart stuttered for a moment before she shot a grin right back at him.

"Right!"

* * *

 **this looked a lot longer on word lmao woops**

 **yes hello i came up with this idea and doodled stuff for it but the doodling didn't fully satisfy me so i am now writing a fic rip**

 **thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

"This is not a Pokemon Center!"

Lucy stared blankly at the building before her and Natsu, reading the huge sign that hung crookedly on the front: Fairy Tail. Chocolate eyes narrowed slightly and averted to the pink-haired boy beside her who still had a grip on her wrist.

"You're right, Luigi. This is Fairy Tail," He peered over at her and offered her a crooked grin. It irked Lucy at how unapologetic he seemed.

"It's Lucy! And yeah, I can read, thanks," Lucy scowled, turning her head away from him causing golden locks to fall from behind her ear. Her eyes widened when he began to tug her into the building. "Woah, hold on. I never agreed to come here!" She protested, but didn't exactly put up much of a fight.

Natsu merely shrugged and pressed his palms into the doors of the building, slamming them open.

"I'm home!" He shouted for all inside to hear, causing Lucy to cringe at the sudden increase of volume and unwanted attention.

"Wow, Natsu brought home a girl!"

"Welcome back, Natsu!"

"Who's the pretty chick?"

All sorts of voices projected at the duo. Natsu simply ignored them and continued to pull Lucy further into the building. He then halted in front of one of the tables and thrust her into the chair that accompanied it. This earned a startled squeak from the blonde, staring up at him with rounded eyes.

"I'll be right back," he promised briefly before hurrying off into another room that was connected to the main dining hall.

The trainer blinked and stared around at all the new faces who stared right back at her.

"Um, hi?" She grimaced, somewhat annoyed that Natsu had left her behind with all these strangers.

Suddenly, a black-haired boy who looked about her age made his presence known. He stepped out from the mass of people, crossing his arms over his bare chest.

"Did Natsu force you to come here?" he asked in a gruff voice. There was a hint of a smug smirk on his features that left Lucy a bit puzzled.

"Uh, no... Well, yes?" she fumbled over her words a bit, twiddling her thumbs in her lap.

"Ha! Of course a girl wouldn't willingly come here with Natsu!" he cackled and settled down into the seat beside her, appearing content. Many others nodded in agreement to his statement.

"He said we were going to a Pokemon Center... What is this place?" Lucy questioned, laying her palms flat on her thighs. She twitched when the wound on her hand stung in response.

"You mean Flame Brain didn't tell you? This is Fairy Tail, a trainer school. Most of us studied here as kids and just kind of stuck around," he explained, leaning back in his wooden chair.

"Ah... Is there a reason you don't have a shirt on?" she asked abruptly, brown eyes flickering down to his abs for a moment. Her eyes darted away quickly, feeling her cheeks grow warm. She wasn't sure if it was second-hand embarrassment or her own.

"What the hell?! Where'd my clothes go?!" the raven-haired trainer exclaimed, jumping to his feet. The chair fell over from his swift movement, earning a flinch from the blonde.

"Gray! Are you sexually assaulting Lucy?!" Natsu's loud booming voice echoed in the room when he returned. Lucy wasn't sure whether to be relieved or concerned at the sudden quarrel that was about to take place.

"So what if I a- Wait, no! No, I'm not!" Gray roared back.

Natsu stomped his way over to the two while Lucy shrunk back in her seat. He clamped his hand on Gray's bare shoulder and Gray grasped the front collar of Natsu's shirt. The two glared at each other. For a moment, Lucy visualized two pokemon fighting over dominance.

"They're like Primeapes," Lucy whispered in awe, staring at the two in disbelief.

"Hah?!" the two of them turned their heads, glaring harshly at her. Lucy sharply inhaled, shrinking back in her seat even more.

Natsu's annoyed expression then turned into a surprised one, releasing his grip on Gray's shoulder and slapping his hand off his shirt.

"Oh right, I forgot," he chirped, flopping down into the seat beside Lucy.

He gathered the materials he had under his arm and placed it on the table, beginning to fumble with the contents. He grabbed a tube of medical cream and unscrewed the cap, squeezing the medicine on his finger. Natsu then took Lucy's hand and flipped it palm up, exposing her tiny wound.

Lucy blinked and gazed at Natsu in wonder, shifting in her seat. He had almost changed into a different person. One moment, he was loud and obnoxious, and in the next, he was tender and gentle. He applied the ointment to Lucy's cut and then unraveled some bandages. Happy crawled off of Natsu's shoulder and hopped on Lucy's. A tiny grin formed on her lips, pleased that Natsu's small companion seemed to like her.

Lucy averted her gaze to stare at the trainers in the room who had all fell into silent murmurs. Feeling a bit self-conscious, she turned her attention back to what Natsu was doing. Gingerly, he wrapped the white bandage around her hand and then lifted the end to his mouth. He chewed on the material until it ripped a bit. Tearing off the roll, he wrapped the rest of the cloth around Lucy's hand.

"There!" he proclaimed proudly, straightening in his seat. He lifted his gaze to look at Lucy. "All fini-" he drifted off when his dull green eyes met Lucy's wide enamored gaze.

They stared at each other for a few moments before Gray cleared his throat. Lucy emitted a surprised squeak, looking between the two. Gray looked confused and Natsu looked confused too but also intrigued. Lucy swallowed hard and stood up, causing the chair to squeak against the wooden floor.

"T-T-Thank you! I'll be, uh, taking my leave!" Lucy sputtered, turning towards the exit. She began to leave before feeling a warm familiar hand grab her wrist.

"What's the hurry?" Natsu asked in a curious tone.

"I mean, there is none... I'm just eager to start my traveling," Lucy turned her head slightly, eyeing the pink haired boy from the corner of her eye.

"Alone?"

"Well yeah."

"Why don't we travel together?"

Lucy nearly choked on air, whirling around and yanking her wrist from his grip. He always seemed to have access to her hand.

"We just met!" Lucy began in her flustered state, eyes darting to stare at anything but Natsu's face.

"Happy and I were planning on leaving Fairy Tail for a while to train so I can become a gym leader. I don't see the harm in us teaming up," he explained, appearing nonchalant.

 _A gym leader, huh? That's rare._ Lucy bit her lip, beginning to debate on the idea. _Well, he wasn't wrong._ She thought, her defensive walls beginning to crumble.

"I don't see the harm in it, I guess..." She murmured, forcing herself to look at him.

Natsu's face lit up like a light bulb, hopping out of his seat and pumping his fist into the air in victory. Lucy couldn't help but smile at the gesture.

"I'll come too. Natsu can't be trusted to be alone with a girl," Gray's voice chimed in causing both Natsu and Lucy to look at him in surprise.

"No way, Ice Princess! No one invited you along!" Natsu argued, his face screwing up in annoyance.

"It would be kind of weird just traveling alone with a guy," Lucy mused, amusement on her face.

Natsu looked over at her with a betrayed look on his face. Lucy cackled, turning to Gray.

"Lucy Heartfilia, by the way," she introduced herself formally, jutting her hand out.

"Gray Fullbuster," he grinned, accepting the handshake.

"Natsu Dragneel!" Natsu growled, looking a bit annoyed that Gray was receiving Lucy's attention.

"Erza Scarlet," a new voice chimed in from behind Lucy.

Lucy jumped, whipping around see who had spoken. A red-headed girl stood with her hands on her hips. Natsu and Gray both inhaled sharply at Erza's appearance and hid behind Lucy.

"Erza Scarlet," She repeated, offering her hand for a handshake. "Someone has to keep Natsu and Gray both in check. Besides, if traveling alone with one boy was a problem, two boys doesn't make it any better."

Lucy remained in shock for a few moments, before offering a warm smile to the older trainer. _They all just love inviting themselves, don't they?_ She thought.

"Thanks, I appreciate it!" she reached out and accepted Erza's hand. Lucy peeped when she discovered how firm Erza's grip was. Her whole arm was shook violently. Giggling nervously, she pulled her hand back. Thankfully, she shook her hand with her non-injured one.

The blonde adjusted her bag that hung from her shoulder, looking to her three new travel-mates.

"Aren't you guys going to pack a small bag?" she inquired, tilting her head to the side. A few strands of light hair fell into her face. Quickly, she tucked it back behind her ear.

The three looked at each other for a short moment before all splitting up into separate directions. They disappeared into different rooms and all emerged with a bag of their own. Natsu's bag looked pretty normal if not similar to Lucy's. Gray's looked extremely lightweight and small. He probably didn't need a lot of clothes, did he? Lucy gaped at Erza, who hefted a large sports backpack on her back.

Before Lucy could say anything about it, Natsu leaped in front of Lucy. She reared back at the sudden movement, staring at him quizzically.

"Thank for letting us tag along, Lucy!" He beamed, a wide toothy smile spreading on his face.

Lucy seemed lost for words. She did just gain three news travel buddies, didn't she? After so many years being secluded in that mansion with no friends... Now, in the blink of an eye, she had friends to travel with. A warmth spread across her chest, her coffee hued eyes softening.

"Yeah, no problem," she replied in a light tone, a small smile on her features.

"Alright, let's go!" Natsu's voice increased in volume when he whirled around on his heels, slamming the front doors of the building open.

"Yeah!" Lucy, Gray, and Erza all agreed in unison, pursuing after him.

* * *

 **writing is a lot harder than i thought**

 **how do people do this**

 **thanks for all the follows and favorites! it means so much i am dead omg**


	3. Chapter 3

_I think I'm actually going to die._

Lucy's eye twitched with annoyance as this thought rant through her scrambling mind over and over. She nestled further into her pink sleeping bag, every muscle in her body tense. Every snore that was emitted from Erza caused the blonde to cringe.

After traveling a few days with her new companions, Lucy, being the perceptive person that she is, had already picked up on all their bad habits. Don't be mistaken, she absolutely adored her new friends, but she couldn't help but notice these things.

And that had brought them here; unfortunately, since the trek from Magnolia, home of Fairy Tail, was so far away from the next town, they were unable to find a Pokemon Center to stay at. So, the four of them had decided to camp out the night in the woods.

Gray was splayed out in his sleeping bag on the far left, Erza on his left, followed by Lucy, and then Natsu. Alas, Lucy had clear accessibility to the full volume of Erza's snoring. The Pokemon Coordinator gripped her sleeping bag with frustration, tossing onto her side so her back was to the snoring red-head.

She let out a tiny sigh and inched under the cover of her sleeping back so she was completely enclosed. Her eyelids fluttered closed and her breathing began to slow as she blocked out the annoying noise of her friend. Just as she was finally falling asleep…

"Lucy! Luce, wake up!"

It was Natsu's voice. Wait, and since when did she earn the nickname "Luce"?

Lucy's eyes shot open, now incredibly irritated. She slapped her covers off of her and sat up quickly, preparing to yell at the pinkette but was only greeted with pain. Natsu was leaning over her sleeping bag and as soon as she shot up, their foreheads crashed together. The blonde let out a tiny cry and Natsu yelped, both of them slapping their hands to their foreheads. Lucy whined and curled up into a ball, writhing about in place.

"What the Hell do you want, Natsu?" Lucy whimpered, glaring at him with teary eyes. She glanced over at Erza and Gray, who surprisingly hadn't even stirred.

"I'm hungry!" Natsu replied in a needy tone, blinking back his own tears.

"You woke me up… because you're hungry?" Lucy growled, glowering at the pink haired boy. What the heck was she supposed to do about that? Use a key to open up some portal to another world and retrieve food for him from a weird celestial king? As if!

"Please Lucy, I can't sleep with this stomach pain! You need to help me find something to eat! You gotta, you gotta!" he begged, his hands dropping from his forehead to his stomach. His dull green eyes were round and watery, unblinking at Lucy. Heat began to crawl up her neck as she slowly got to her feet.

"Come on then," the blonde mumbled, unable to meet the other teen's gaze.

Natsu's eyes glistened with excitement and he hopped to his own two feet. With a sigh, Lucy began to walk off, quickly accompanied by the boy.

* * *

Vexation radiated off the female in waves as she walked aimlessly, refusing to say a word. Awkwardly, Natsu just continued to follow her like a puppy and tried to peer at her from the sides. Suddenly, Lucy halted in her tracks, causing Natsu to bump into her. He grunted at the contact and peeked at her with silent wonder.

"I don't… know where I'm going," Lucy admitted, her face as red as a tomato. Natsu stayed quiet for a few moments and then let out a wholehearted laugh, slapping her back roughly.

"Just leave the leading to me! I spotted some berry trees earlier this way!" he chirped reassuringly, stepping in front of her and beginning to walk onward again. Lucy followed quietly, knitting her brows in annoyance.

"Why did you have to wake me up then? If you knew where to go, I mean," the blonde asked, crossing her arms and still strolling after him.

"Because I'd be lonely."

"You have Happy. You could have woken up Erza or Gray, too."

"I wanted you to come with me."

Lucy inhaled sharply at those words, brown eyes staring at the back of his head. His hair rustled with every step he took, making Lucy unable to glance away.

"Why?" she asked in a small voice, swallowing down the nervousness she felt.

"I dunno," he replied very quickly and lifted his arm to point, "Hey, there they are!"

With that, Natsu quickened his pace and ran to the tree like an excited child. Lucy blinked in confusion; did he avoid her question? Rolling her shoulders in a shrug, she followed after him, crossing her arms again. Natsu stood at the trunk of the tree, looking up at the berries that were high up in the brush. Lucy followed his gaze up to look at the berries, frowning.

"I left my Pokemon in my bag back at camp… I can get them so we can get the berries, if you want," She offered, looking to the other teen. Though, he was way ahead of her.

"Nah, I got it," he chirped back in reply before gripping a low branch and beginning to climb. Quickly, he navigated his way up the tree, leaving Lucy at the bottom with her jaw dropped.

"You seriously are a Primeape!" Lucy chuckled, shaking her head. Suddenly, a berry was dropped onto her head. "Natsu!"

"Oops, my hand slipped," he grinned down at her and winked, before continuing with his harvest. He grabbed a few handfuls, gripping the end of his shirt and pulling it upwards so he could store the food there like a bowl. When he was finished, he carefully worked his way down to where Lucy was scowling and waiting for him.

"Alright, can we go bac- hey, what are you doing!?" Lucy whined when Natsu walked away from her which was definitely not in the direction of camp. She watched as he then flopped down in the grass.

"There are hardly any trees here so you can see the sky better," he replied, tossing a few of the berries in his mouth. He turned his head to look at her with an expecting gaze.

Lucy said nothing and exhaled yet another sigh, lumbering after him. She sat down in the soft grass beside him and then lay on her back. He was right. The ultramarine sky littered with glowing stars was spread out above them, a small smile forming on her lips. Everything was quiet besides the loud and obnoxious chewing coming from Natsu.

"Do you like the sky?" he pitched out the question through a mouthful of food.

"…Yeah," Lucy replied in a soft tone, her chest rising and falling with her slow breaths.

"Why?"

"Because my mom. She knew so many constellations, so she taught me a new one every night when we went stargazing." Lucy closed her eyes. "And now I'm stuck watching them with you," she added, a hint of amusement in her voice.

"Is it really that bad? Y'know, to be here with me?" Natsu's voice small voice followed, earning a jolt from Lucy.

 _Am I being too mean? I didn't mean any harm by it..._ Her heart began to race, peeking open one eye to look at Natsu. Both of her eyes then popped open in shock when she found him staring at her with a lost look in his eyes. Her own gaze softened for a moment and she then closed her eyes again. She could feel her face beginning to flush a bit before she admitted.

"No, not at all."

* * *

 **ahh the long awaited third chapter**

 **i am so sorry i suck at updating omg**

 **i've been extremely stressed about school and honestly i went into this story blindly so i had no idea what to write about next**

 **but its ok i came up with something to get the story moving ayoooo**

 **until next time nerds**


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